The present invention relates to a vehicle door and the manufacture thereof, and is usable, for example, as a tailgate, which is also called a back door, and a side, door of a vehicle.
A tailgate which is a back door of a four-wheel vehicle is formed by connecting an outer panel on an outer side of the vehicle and an inner panel on an inner side of the vehicle to each other and by assembling door parts such as a door lock and a key cylinder between these outer and inner panels.
In a tailgate in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-142676, an inner panel is formed in a shape having an upper opening portion corresponding to a window cavity formed in an outer panel and a lower opening portion separated by a partitioning portion extending in a right and left direction relative to this upper opening portion, and a module plate in a substantially square shape which has a size large enough to cover this lower opening portion and to which door parts are attached in advance is fitted in the lower opening portion.
At present, a decrease in vehicle weight is being demanded in order to improve the fuel efficiency of a vehicle. Since a tailgate is a part of a vehicle, this tailgate influences the vehicle weight, but in the tailgate in the aforesaid conventional art, a sufficient measure is not taken for a weight decrease.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door which can realize a decrease in door weight and contribute to a decrease in vehicle weight and to provide a method of manufacturing the vehicle door.
A vehicle door according to the present invention is a vehicle door composed of an outer panel on an outer side of a vehicle and an inner panel on an inner side of the vehicle which is connected to this outer panel, and it is characterized in that the aforesaid inner panel is in a frame shape, with only a marginal portion of the whole periphery left and with an opening portion formed therein.
According to this vehicle door, since the inner panel is in a frame shape with only the marginal portion of the whole periphery left and with the opening portion formed therein, there is no partitioning portion for partitioning the opening portion into upper and lower portions, so that the weight of the inner panel is reduced accordingly. Consequently, the total weight of the door is reduced, which can contribute to a decrease in weight of the vehicle to which this door is attached.
In the vehicle door as described above, a reinforcing member for enhancing the strength of this inner panel and securing a required door strength is disposed. This reinforcing member may be in any shape such as a substantially square shape, but it is preferable that it includes at least a first extending portion extending in a right and left direction and a second extending portion extending downward from the center or a substantially central part in the right and left direction of this first extending portion, and that the first extending portion extends between right and left marginal portions of the inner panel.
According to this, the reinforcing member is formed of the first extending portion and the second extending portion to be in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape or is formed only of the first extending portion to be in a long and narrow shape which is long in the right and left direction, so that in either case, its area is smaller than that in a substantially square shape to reduce the weight of the reinforcing member and contribute to a reduction in door weight. Furthermore, the first extending portion extends between the right and left marginal portions of the inner panel to reinforce the inner panel and enhance the strength of the door.
When the reinforcing member is formed of the first extending portion and the second extending portion to be in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape, end portions in a longitudinal direction of the first extending portion are joined to the right and left marginal portions of the inner panel respectively and a lower end portion of the second extending portion is joined to a lower marginal portion of the aforesaid inner panel.
When the reinforcing member is formed of the first extending portion and the second extending portion is in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape as described above, this reinforcing member may be simply formed to have a planar structure, but it is preferable that ribs having a rising amount toward the outer side of the vehicle are formed in a lower part of the first extending portion and right and left side parts of the second extending portion and that the rib in the lower part of the first extending portion and the rib in the left side part of the second extending portion are continuously formed and the rib in the lower part of the first extending portion and the rib in the right side part of the second extending portion are continuously formed.
According to this, these ribs enhance the strength of the reinforcing member, and the continuous formation of these ribs along the first extending portion and the second extending portion which are perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to each other enables two-dimensional reinforcement of the whole surface of the vehicle door by the reinforcing member.
When the reinforcing member is formed only of the first extending portion to be in a long and narrow shape which is long in the right and left directions, the end portions in the longitudinal direction of this first extending portion are joined to the right and left marginal portions of the inner panel respectively.
This reinforcing member may also be simply structured to have a planar structure when the reinforcing member is formed only of the first extending portion to be a long and narrow shape which is long in the right and left direction as described above, but it is preferable that this reinforcing member is a bent member having a web whose width direction corresponds to a vertical direction and a flange bending from at least one of upper and lower edge portions of this web.
This enhances the strength of the reinforcing member itself so that the strength of the door can be increased.
Furthermore, when the reinforcing member is a bent member having a web whose width direction corresponds to the vertical direction and a flange bending from this web, the number of flanges provided may be one to form the reinforcing member in an angled shape, but it is preferable that the flanges are provided both along the upper and lower edges of the web and that these two flanges are formed continuously along the longitudinal direction of the aforesaid web.
According to this, the aforesaid reinforcing member formed of the web and the two flanges to be a bent member with a substantially C-shaped cross section becomes a channel shape, so that the two flanges sufficiently increase the strength of the reinforcing member, and furthermore, unlike the case when the reinforcing member is formed of the aforesaid first extending portion and the aforesaid second extending portion to be in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape, the lower flange can be continuously formed, similarly to the upper flange, without ending halfway in the longitudinal direction of the web. Consequently, the strength given by the upper and lower flanges is maintained as it is and the strength of the inner panel reinforced by the reinforcing member and the strength of the door can be increased sufficiently.
Furthermore, when the reinforcing member is composed of the web and the two flanges to be the bent member with the substantially C-shaped cross section, an opening portion of the reinforcing member having the substantially C-shaped cross section faces the outer side of the vehicle and each of the end portions in the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member is joined to the surface of the inner panel on the inner side of the vehicle.
According to this, the two flanges face the outer side of the vehicle and these flanges are in the state of being accommodated in a space for securing the thickness of the door, so that the thickness of the door can be suppressed to be a predetermined size.
Door parts which are to be assembled onto the vehicle door in plurality may be attached to the reinforcing member, the inner panel, or both of the reinforcing member and the inner panel. When all or a part of the door parts are attached to the reinforcing member, the reinforcing member can be also used as an attaching member to which the door parts are attached, so that one member can serve for plural purposes.
Furthermore, when the door parts are attached to the reinforcing member before this reinforcing member is attached to the inner panel, thereby causing this reinforcing member to be a module member to which the door parts are attached in advance, the attachment of the reinforcing member to the inner panel results in the assembly of the door parts attached to the reinforcing member onto predetermined positions at the same time.
When the reinforcing member is formed of the aforesaid first extending portion and the aforesaid second extending portion to be in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape, with the end portions in the, longitudinal direction of the first extending portion joined to the right and left marginal portions of the inner panel respectively, and with the lower end portion of the second extending portion joined to the lower marginal portion of the aforesaid inner panel, various kinds of the door parts can be attached to places of the reinforcing member corresponding to functions of the door parts respectively, making effective use of the shape of this reinforcing member. One example of this is that, when the door parts include a key cylinder, a wiper motor, an outer handle, and a door lock, the key cylinder and the wiper motor are attached to the first extending portion, the outer handle is attached to a connecting portion of the first extending portion and the second extending portion, and the door lock is attached to the second extending portion.
Meanwhile, when the reinforcing member is formed only of the first extending portion to be in a long and narrow shape which is long in the right and left directions and the end portions in the longitudinal direction of this first extending portion are joined to the right and left marginal portions of the inner panel respectively, the wiper motor, the outer handle, and the key cylinder are attached to this reinforcing member and the door lock is attached to the inner panel.
Furthermore, when the marginal portion of the inner panel has a hat-shaped cross section, a cross section of a joining portion of the outer panel, the inner panel, and the reinforcing member can be formed in a box shape, with a peripheral portion of the outer panel joined to the surface of the marginal portion, which has the hat-shaped cross section opening toward the outer side of the vehicle, of the inner panel on the outer side of the vehicle and with the end portions of the reinforcing member joined to the surface of the marginal portion of the inner panel on the inner side of the vehicle.
This greatly strengthens the connecting portion of the outer panel, the inner panel, and the reinforcing member and can enhance the strength of the entire door.
Furthermore, the outer handle used when the door is opened/closed may be attached to the reinforcing member.
This prevents an operating force given to the outer handle from acting directly on the outer panel and causes this operating force to be received by the reinforcing member since the outer handle is not attached to the outer panel. Consequently, the problem caused when the operating force given to the outer handle directly acts on the outer panel, for example, the problem that deformation such as a partial dent occurs in the outer panel can be solved.
Furthermore, when the outer handle is attached to the reinforcing member via a bracket, a license lamp may be attached to this bracket.
This causes the bracket for attaching the outer handle to also serve as a bracket for attaching the license lamp, which can reduce the number of parts accordingly and, as a result of the reduction in the number of the parts, contribute to a weight reduction of the door.
Places of the inner panel to which the end portions of the reinforcing member are joined may be places perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to an opening/closing direction of the door, or may be places parallel or substantially parallel to the opening/closing direction of the door.
In the latter case, rising portions rising in a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the opening/closing direction of the door are formed on the inner panel in order to form a predetermined thickness of the door with a predetermined spaced interval being secured between the inner panel and the outer panel, so that the end portions of the reinforcing member can be joined to the inner panel using the rising portions. Moreover, unlike the case when the former is adopted, the inner panel can be formed in a gentle shape without an abrupt change in its shape or with a small number of portions where its shape changes abruptly, so that the occurrence of stress concentration due to impact load can be suppressed when the door is opened/closed.
Furthermore, it is preferable that a box-shaped portion having a box-shaped cross section is formed along the whole periphery of the door by forming a hat-shaped portion with a hat-shaped cross section along the whole periphery of the inner panel in the marginal portion of the inner panel and by connecting this inner panel and the outer panel to each other.
This secures the strength of the entire door owing to the box-shaped portion along the whole periphery of the door. The reinforcing member formed of the aforesaid first extending portion and the aforesaid second extending portion to be in a T-shape or a substantially T-shape or the reinforcing member formed only of the aforesaid first extending portion to be in a long and narrow shape which is long in the right and left directions is connected to the inner panel, so that the strength of the door is further increased.
The inner panel may be formed of one blank material or may be formed of a tailored blank which is formed by joining a plurality of blank materials including blank materials having different plate thickness.
When the inner panel is formed in the latter manner, demands for door strength and door weight, which are inconsistent with each other, can both be satisfied at the same time by using a blank material having a large plate thickness in a portion which requires strength.
One example of the case when the inner panel is formed in the latter manner is that the tailored blank is composed of a blank material forming a hinge attaching portion to which a door hinge is attached and a blank material forming a portion other than this hinge attaching portion, and that the blank material forming the hinge attaching portion has a plate thickness larger than the blank material forming the portion other than the hinge attaching portion.
This can secure the strength required for the hinge attaching portion owing to the blank material with a large plate thickness, and furthermore, the portion, which occupies a large area of the inner panel, other than the hinge attaching portion is formed of the blank material having a small plate thickness so that the weight of the door can be reduced.
At least a part of the portion other than the hinge attaching portion may be formed of one blank material or may be formed by joining a plurality of blank materials having the same plate thickness.
In the latter case, a material yield of the blank materials which are blanked by press work can be increased even when at least a part of the portion other than this hinge attaching portion has a complicated shape such as a shape having a bending portion.
Furthermore, in the vehicle door according to the present invention described above, the inner panel and the reinforcing member, and the outer panel and the reinforcing member may be joined to each other by welding such as spot welding or by using a connecting tool such as a bolt and a nut.
A manufacturing method of a vehicle door according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a vehicle door by connecting an outer panel on an outer side of a vehicle, an inner panel on an inner side of the vehicle in a frame shape, with only a marginal portion of the whole periphery left and with a large opening portion formed therein, and a reinforcing member having at least a first extending portion extending in a right and left direction and a second extending portion extending downward from the central part or a substantially central part of this first extending portion, and it is characterized in that, after the work of joining each of the end portions of the aforesaid reinforcing member to a marginal portion of the aforesaid inner panel is carried out and after the work of connecting the aforesaid outer panel and the aforesaid inner panel to each other is carried out, the work of painting the aforesaid outer panel, the aforesaid inner panel, and the aforesaid reinforcing member integrally connected is carried out, and subsequently, the work of attaching door parts to the aforesaid reinforcing member and/or the aforesaid inner panel is carried out.
According to this manufacturing method, the outer panel, the inner panel, and the reinforcing member are painted after they are integrally connected, so that it becomes unnecessary to carry out the painting work for them as individual works, and consequently, workability is improved. Furthermore, even when the inner panel and the reinforcing member, and the outer panel and the reinforcing member are joined to each other by welding such as spot welding, all of the welded portions can be painted by the painting work.
In this manufacturing method, the work of assembling door parts after the work of painting the outer panel, the inner panel, and the reinforcing member may be carried out by attaching all the door parts to the inner panel or the reinforcing member, or by attaching a part of the door parts to the inner panel and the other door parts to the reinforcing member respectively.
Furthermore, a manufacturing method of a vehicle door according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a vehicle door by connecting an outer panel on an outer side of a vehicle, an inner panel on an inner side of the vehicle in a frame shape, with only a marginal portion of the whole periphery left and with a large opening portion formed therein, and a reinforcing member having at least a first extending portion extending in a right and left direction and a second extending portion extending downward from the central part or a substantially central part of this first extending portion, and it is characterized in that the aforesaid outer panel and the aforesaid inner panel are integrally connected in advance, subsequently these outer and inner panels are painted, and thereafter the aforesaid reinforcing member to which door parts are attached is attached to the aforesaid inner panel.
According to this manufacturing method, the outer panel and the inner panel are painted after they are integrally connected to each other, so that it become unnecessary to carry out painting works for them as individual works, thereby improving workability accordingly. Moreover, the door parts are attached to the reinforcing member in advance, so that the work of assembling the door parts, which are attached to the reinforcing member, to a door is finished at the same time when the work of disposing this reinforcing member to extend between the right and left side marginal portions in the marginal portion of the inner panel is carried out, and furthermore, the work of attaching the door parts to the reinforcing member can be carried out in a place having an open surrounding space, so that workability is improved.
Incidentally, since the work of painting the outer panel and the inner panel is already finished when the work of joining the reinforcing member and the inner panel and the work of joining the reinforcing member and the outer panel in this manufacturing method are carried out, it is preferable that the work of joining the reinforcing member and the inner panel and the work of joining the reinforcing member and the outer panel are carried out by using a connecting tool such as a bolt and a nut.
Furthermore, in this manufacturing method, the door parts which are attached to the reinforcing member in advance may be all of the door parts or may be a part of the door parts.
Furthermore, the vehicle door according to the present invention described hitherto may be a tailgate or a side door.
When the vehicle door according to the present invention is a tailgate, this tailgate may be a tailgate of a vertically opening/closing type, with hinges around which the tailgate opens/closes being disposed in an upper portion thereof, or may be a tailgate of a horizontally opening/closing type, with hinges being disposed on the side parts thereof Moreover, when the vehicle door according to the present invention is a side door, it may be a side door of a hinged door type which opens/closes by hinges, or may be a side door of a sliding type which opens/closes by sliding movement.